Starting my first true build

[logans59]

Hey everyone, it's been a while since I've posted but I'm finally able to be back and I want to do my first real build. I want to start out trying to build a strat style guitar (I know, I know) to try and get used to the process before I build a nice bass. I've been reading through on here and my father-in-law has just about every tool I need, so I'm ready to go on that front. This will be a very long process as I am in grad school and have zero woodworking experience, but I'm really excited about it. First things first: buying the wood. For the body I want to use alder, but I don't know the dimensions that I will need to buy. . .

 

[HaMMerHeD]

For your first, I'd recommend buying a pre-made body blank from LMII, StewMac, ExoticWoods, etc. They are generally about the right size for whatever you want to build. If you want to buy it in lumber format, you'll need about 4 board-feet of 8/4 (eight quarter, which means about 2" thick -- usually closer to 1-13/16") lumber. I look for mine to be as close to 7" wide and 41" long as possible, because it fits most of my designs rather well. A strat may be somewhat smaller.

You'll save money buying raw lumber, but it'll take more time and labor to get started. Raw lumber for the body may be close to the $25 mark, where a pre-made body blank will be more like $90-$100. If your father-in-law has a jointer and a thickness planer, I'd say go for raw lumber. If not, a body blank is probably your best option.

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https://www.lmii.com/products/mostly-wood/electric-guitar-woods/electric-guitar-body-blanks
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[logans59]

Thanks for the reply and links. What size planar is necessary? also, would a biscuit jointer be enough, or does it need to be one of the bigger ones combined with the planar?

 

[HaMMerHeD]

A biscuit jointer definitely won't do, and it doesn't need to be a jointer/planer combo. A plain benchtop or pedestal jointer will work fine.

This is a bench jointer:

This is a pedestal jointer:

Either of those will do the trick quite quickly. It is a type of planer, but it's not a thickness planer. It's purpose is to plane edges flat and smooth for gluing.

There are also handplane jointers, mostly known as #7 jointer and #8 jointer planes. I have a #8. It looks basically like this:

(The #7 is smaller, and is for little girls.)

It has the same purpose as the power jointers, but is obviously hand powered, and it takes a lot longer.

The thickness planer is just to take the lumber down to the thickness of the bass body. I like 1.5" thick bodies, so when I get 8/4 lumber, I plane it down to just a hair above that thickness and then glue the lumber pieces together to make a blank. Because I plane it to thickness before I glue the body blank up, I don't need a terribly wide planer. Mine has a 12.5" wide cutting capacity, which is too small for a glued blank or body to fit through. If you want like a 15" thickness planer so you can plane after gluing, you're going to be spending a lot of money for it.

So I take my raw lumber (7" x 41" piece of 8/4 whatever) and 1) plane it down to thickness, and then 2) cut it at 22" so that I can glue it into a blank, and then 3) joint both gluing edges, then 4) glue them together, and after the glue cures, I 5) scrape and sand the glue off to prepare for routing.

Buying a pre-made blank removes that work and the required tools from the process. I'd recommend it.